Technology Working Group: Minutes: July 31, 2003

CITY OF FULLERTON TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP

MEETING MINUTES

At the Chairman's discretion, public comments may be allowed on items on this agenda at the time each item is considered.

Persons addressing the Committee shall be limited to 10 minutes unless an extension of time is granted by the Chairman subject to approval of the Committee. When any group of persons wishes to address the Committee, it shall be proper for the Chairman to request that a spokesperson be chosen to represent the group.

At the end of this agenda, public comments may be allowed, at the Chairman's discretion, on items NOT on the agenda, but within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Committee. However, NO action may be taken on off-agenda items except as provided by law.

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Burtner called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.

ROLL CALL

Members Present:

Tony Anderson

Gary Gray

Scott Price

David Bailey

Vice-Chair Helen Hall

Paul Stover

Roger Burtner

Robert Morison

Norman Thorn

Burnie Dunlap

Nilo Niccolai

Members Absent:

Ian Koskela

Johnson Lew

Michael Parker

Members Arriving After Roll Call:

Liz Bartlett

Robert Port

PUBLIC COMMENTS

None.

ACTION:

Chair Burtner asked for a motion to approve the minutes of 07/10/03. The motion to approve was made by Burnie Dunlap and seconded by Scott Price. The minutes were unanimously approved by the members present (11:0).

Chair Burtner distributed to the group several documents pertaining to broadband, costs, and related issues of customer-owned fiber. He restated the goal of the group which is to assist the City in developing a telecom master plan that will benefit all elements of the community. He pointed out that one of the reasons for the large (16-member) working group was the desire to have a cross-section of the community and persons with the requisite technical qualifications, noting that those two objectives had been accomplished. He further stated that the group might wish to create subgroups to deal with development of specific components of the master plan or specific technologies such as wireless and landline fiber.

Chair Burtner pointed out that the Technology Working Group had considerable outside resources available to it at little or no cost, and that the committee members, collectively, had many contacts and networks that would be invaluable to the work of the committee. He informed the members that Tom West, executive director of Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC), or one of his staff, would be willing to meet with the group to discuss their program and how they can assist the groups planning efforts. Chair Burtner noted that City Council had expressed the desire for the group to give Council periodic briefings on the groups progress. He suggested that one or more council members participate in any meetings with CENIC.

Chair Burtner informed the members that Law Seminars International has organized two-day seminars on municipal broadband which are being held at various venues around the U.S. Speakers at the seminars are drawn from many of the municipalities that are actively planning and implementing municipal and regional broadband telecom plans. Chair Burtner suggested that representatives of City staff, Council, and the Technology Working Group attend the seminar that will be held in Los Angeles on October 20 and 21.

Chair Burtner indicated that he and Norm Thorn would be attending Telecom 2003 on August 24 and 25 at the Inn at Squaw Valley. This conference, which is organized by Steve Forbes and George Gilder, brings together telecom executives, investors, and presenters from leading high-tech firms in the telecom industry to discuss the latest major trends in the development of telecom and related equipment.

Chair Burtner stated that on July 30, 2003, he had met with Prof. Joe Greco, Director of the Center for the Study of Emerging Markets at CSUF (who was Vice-Chairman of the TITF). Chair Burtner noted that one of the Task Forces recommendations was that the City encourage and support the formation of a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at CSUF. He indicated that Prof. Greco was recently successful in obtaining funding from the SBA (Small Business Administration), and that CSUF will now be a lead institution as well as host for a Tech SBDC. Prof. Greco informed Chair Burtner that he would like to work closely with the Technology Working Group as appropriate, and that he and others are beginning to view the Technology Working Group and the City of Fullerton as leaders in developing telecom initiatives that can be extended regionally in Orange County.

Chair Burtner continued his presentation with a review of the Technology Infrastructure Task Force recommendations, noting that the first step in generating a telecom master plan, in his opinion, would be to ascertain the strategic plans and visions that the committee members have regarding telecom. He noted that when these are known, the committee should be able to see how integrating the groups plans and aggregating demand will influence the nature and extent of the telecom plan. He stated that other municipalities have successfully taken a lead role in defining systems that significantly increase bandwidth and lower costs for participants, and that the Technology Working Groups goals should be the same. He indicated there are many successful models to draw from and that some of the best plans combine condominium fiber with customer-owned broadband networks.

Chair Burtner gave a slide presentation to the Technology Working Group on infrastructure broadband initiatives in the United States.

Chair Burtner directed Helen Hall, Robert Morison, and Norman Thorn to develop policies and guidelines pertaining to the implementation of Recommendation 3-3: Plan to integrate the Citys information technology networks and telephone systems.

It was agreed that an action item for the next meeting should be for each member to prepare a brief written summary of their telecom strategic plans and visions, and be prepared to provide a verbal summary in five minutes or less. It was suggested that the group schedule more time at future meetings, if necessary, for expanded discussion of some individual plans.

Prior to the slide presentation, Vice-Chair Hall informed the members that after consulting with legal counsel (Kimberly Hall Barlow of Jones & Mayer), it was confirmed that only Liz Bartlett would be required to complete Form 700, Conflict of Interest Statement.

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business, Chair Burtner asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion was made by David Bailey, seconded by Burnie Dunlap, and unanimously approved (13:0). Meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m.

Next meeting scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 14, 2003, in the Redevelopment Conference Room.